


Before

by Jester85



Category: Actor RPF
Genre: Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 10:43:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14591313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jester85/pseuds/Jester85
Summary: Tom grabs a moment to Skype with his bestie while filming In The Heart of the Sea.





	Before

It doesn't escape Tom that twice within the span of his short acting career, he's found himself acting out water-based survival situations.

 _The Impossible,_ as terrible as the true story had been, was exciting for the twelve-year-old kid that he was.  Even exhausting slogs through the water that wore out far more experienced actors like Naomi was fun to him, like playing in a water park all day.

 _In the Heart of the Sea_ was brilliant---he got to be on a ship and go swimming and work with Ron Howard and Thor himself, and he'd nervously wheedled a promise out of Chris Hemsworth to put in a good word for him with Marvel in his pursuit of Spider-Man, even if he was too afraid to get his hopes up---but he'd just spent a day crawling in and out of a giant fake rubber whale head over and over again until Mr. Howard was finally satisfied, and he was bone-tired.

And when Tom is bone-tired and at the end of his rope, there is one person he wants ~~needs~~ to talk to.

He's not used to being apart from his family and friends for so long, and a significant chunk of the movie had been able to film in London and at Leavesden Studio in Hertfordshire, but now the production had moved to La Gomera in the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain, and being out here in the middle of nowhere on an 1800s whaling ship with Ron Howard and Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy was awesome, but he was also lonely, like a kid shipped off to summer camp for the first time.

And much as he misses his Mum and Da and his brothers, when he queues up Skype, there's one person he's longing for.

Haz answers, because of course he does.  Haz would always answer, his best and most faithful friend, Thing Two to his Thing One, inseparable since they were kids.  They're on the cusp of manhood now, but their bond has only gotten stronger, needing each other by their sides in a basic, elemental way that they prefer not to examine too closely, maybe out of the closest of friendships, maybe out of something more underneath, an elephant in the room that they'll face when they're ready.

For now, Tom tries to resist the uncontrollable grin that breaks out when Haz's stupid face flashes up on his laptop screen, blinking blearily---Tom has gotten a little hazy on time differences between London and La Gomera---but beaming at him in a soft, fond way that makes something warm and full surge in Tom's chest.

"Hey mate," Haz says softly, warmly, and Tom sighs wistfully.

"Hey, Haz."

"They treating you right over there, or I need to come kick some arse?"

Tom laughs.  "Well I did spend the better part of today stuck inside a giant whale head."

Haz's face scrunches in bemused confusion.  "Please tell me that's some sort of weird metaphor."

Tom rubs a hand over his tired face, sighing as the claustrophobic memories come flooding back.  "You have no idea how much I wish it was."

He ends up telling Haz the whole sordid tale, along with other anecdotes about Hemsworth and Mr. Howard and Spain, and how it reminds him of when their families vacationed together when they were kids, not so far from where he is now, and of course Haz takes the piss out of him, but there's an underlying softness in this conversation, a gentleness to the teasing they both happily throw to the wind when they're together, and it's something a little tender that some small part of Tom feels like he won't get away with putting off examining forever.

"I wish you were here," he says finally.

On the screen, Haz glances down for a second, then looks up and nods, pale eyes crinkling.  "Me too, mate."

It's totally embarrassing and sappy and Hemsworth would tease him for days if he knew ~~except he maybe already does because Tom talks about Haz a little too much and a little too softly and Hemsworth isn't an idiot~~ but when Tom dozes off a while later, it's with his tousled head resting close to his open laptop and Haz's snoring drifting over the speakers from the other end.

_When he gets home to London, a few pounds lighter and a little tanner, there will come a time in the not too distant future when he'll be ready to face what he has to face, but he won't have to face it alone._


End file.
